


Too Cold for The Phoenix

by Mosstar



Category: Final Fantasy X, 甲鉄城のカバネリ | Koutetsujou no Kabaneri | Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Chocobo Knight!Ikoma, Gen, Gun Mage Crusader!Takumi, Operation Mi'ihen, Survivor Guilt, Takumi and Ikoma are actually brothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-06-10 09:53:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6951568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mosstar/pseuds/Mosstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Operation Mi'ihen is a disaster.<br/>In the end – not even Takumi’s gun mage abilities are powerful enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Too Cold for The Phoenix

**Author's Note:**

> I literally have no idea how this happened.  
> I really like the idea of Ikoma being a Chocobo Knight??? His hair's fluffy like a chocobo's feathers uwu  
> I'd say I'm not sorry but writing this hurt me.  
> Warning: There is a bit of Al Bhed that shows up in here! It's not necessary to know what they're saying but I'm going to leave the translations in the end notes.

       Operation Mi’ihen is already underway.

       Sin’s shown itself. A large mass of oozing darkness covering its true form rising from the ocean. Black seeps into the water and stains the incoming tide.

       The first wave of machina canons fire on Sin, and fiends fall from him into the water.

       Sinspawn. Smaller- but no less deadly.

 “Charge!” Chocobo Knight Captain Lucil orders.

       The chocobo knights charge ahead of the ground support teams. Ikoma amongst them. Takumi can spot Ikoma’s chocobo, Piercer, even with the distance between them. Piercer’s crest and the tips of his tailfeathers are green from the chocobo-safe mixture that Ikoma uses to dye his feathers. Not like Piercer minds the dye anyway- the gysahl greens that give the green color sends Piercer into trilling fits. It’s the same dye that Ikoma uses on his own hair- and a variant of that is what Takumi uses on his.

       Ikoma’s wearing his full red body armor today. His polished headgear’s shining in the light and makes the green of his hair look intense. The white strap of his goggles stands out against it. Ikoma’s blade is in his hand. He raises it up to signal to his group to pick up speed and stay in formation with the rest of the assault.

 “Get ready! Support team prepare your spells! Everyone else- with me!” The crusader squad leader, Ayame, commands. She motions forward and the Crusaders follow.

       Takumi keeps at the head of the support team to keep his sights on Ikoma. He leads them at a slower pace behind the offensive teams. They were each assigned specific knights and crusaders to support- and Takumi had to plead a lot more than expected for his younger brother to be put under his care. He didn’t trust anyone else to keep an eye on him.

       Takumi’s the only gun mage in the Crusaders and keeps a good rank- and for good reason. His abilities are sought after due to the danger that has to be endured to get them. It’s what lets his ethnicity fly under the radar and keep him out of suspicion. Everyone assumes he wears goggles to stop the bright flash of his gun’s spells from hurting his eyes. He and Ikoma’s years growing up in Luca prevented them from ever having the accent that people recognize as Al Bhed.

       Takumi loads a Mighty Guard bullet and aims his gun. He spots the green crest of Piercer and keeps his hand near the trigger. His short sword is clipped to one side of his belt in case an enemy comes too close.

“Target your team members! Wait for it.” Takumi doesn’t glance back to his team to know they heard him.

       The chocobos break through the shallow water towards the oncoming sinspawn.

“Now!” Takumi orders. He fires his gun. The bullet shatters over Piercer and Ikoma. It bathes them in a light blue glow. Piercer tips his head up as he runs with a high trill. Takumi hears Ikoma's confirmation shout that the spell got to him. Ikoma’s armor continues to glow.

       Takumi loads more Mighty Gun bullets and fires them at his other team members. Mumei, a Crusader with uncommon dual bladed guns. She’s one of the younger fighters who’s grown to tolerate Ikoma and Takumi. Kurusu, an older Chocobo Knight who fights with a katana. His chocobo is a dark yellow female named Hozen. One of the largest of the chocobos in the knights. The final team member is Sukari. His grandmother on his father’s side was an Al Bhed. His pupils aren’t swirled but his eyes are still green. He witnessed Sin’s attack on Kilika and still doesn’t talk about it.

       Each team member is covered in the protection of Takumi’s Mighty Guard. He only has enough rounds to protect them twice- so he can’t afford to overlap the spells. He has to keep an eye on them and renew it right when the first round’s effect wears off.

       The other support members consist of those who specialize in black and white magic. They, like Takumi, aren’t always the best at close combat.

       The sinspawn make first contact. They start pulling the chocobos down, toppling them and throwing their riders into the water. The high-pitched shrieks they give when they’re in pain send their knights into a protective frenzy.

       Takumi’s group stays in the shallow water close to the shore.

       It goes bad too fast. Takumi shouts orders to keep firing spells. Offensive and defensive. Over there. That Crusader’s cornered. There’s too many sinspawn in one place. Break them up.

       Three sinspawn find their way past the knights and offensive Crusaders. Takumi pulls out his blade with his free hand and skewers an oncoming one through the mouth. He kicks the corpse off of his blade as it dissolves to pyreflies and loads a Blaster bullet to finish off another sinspawn. Mumei darts out of the fray and kills the third one. Her hair is messy and she has a cut on her cheek from a close encounter.

“Thanks, Mumei!” Takumi shouts.

“Pay attention! What would I tell Ikoma if you got hurt?” Mumei chastises. She leaps into the battle to aid another Crusader.

       Takumi watches the blue glows of his abilities fading off of his team. He loads his final round of Mighty Guard bullets and aims to find Ikoma.

       Then Sin drops the darkness covering it to start casting its own magic-

       and everything goes to shit.

       Takumi sees Ikoma tug on Piercer’s reigns, one of the only chocobos still standing.  Takumi’s bullet misses its mark from the sudden movement. It fails to release the spell, anyway. Ikoma shouts over the chaos for his squad to fall back. Piercer warbles and turns tail. His feathers fluff up as he jumps over an incoming sinspawn. His wings are tucked tight against himself.

       Every Crusader and Chocobo Knight is locked in combat with enemies. Avenging fallen comrades from the past and present. Defending those from the future. Unaware of the incoming blast or the retreat calls that spike louder than the fighting.

       Then the energy wave hits the main group.

       Flesh is evaporated away with no care for what that flesh belongs to. Takumi sees Piercer stop in his tracks once he hit hits the sand and use the momentum to launch Ikoma farther towards the rock wall. Takumi runs towards where Ikoma lands. Piercer cries out as the wave swallows him.

“Ikoma!” Takumi shouts.

“Takumi- wait!” Ayame shouts from behind. She sounds far away.

( _“Fa’mm rayt rusa fedr jelduno ujan Sin! Dukadran, oui kud dryd? Fa’na y days. Drah, frah ajanodrehk lmaync- fa’mm mad dra rekran nyhgc uv pudr dra Crusaders yht dra Chocobo Knights becc draen byhdc frah drao maynh dfu uv draen rekran saspanc ryja paah Al Bhed ymm ymuhk.” Ikoma’s voice echoes in Takumi’s head. They were grooming Piercer at the time. Preparing to head off to the location of Operation Mi’Ihen._ )

       There’s a shattering sound. Everything goes dark.

       When Takumi returns to consciousness the bulk of the noise is gone. He’s caught underneath wood rubble from the cliff above. He’s bleeding on his side and his goggles are cracked. He tugs them off and coughs sand out of his lungs.

“What’s going on?” The scream echoes along the cove walls in the distance.

       Ikoma- Where?

       Takumi pulls himself out of the rubble and stands up. His hands are burned from the energy blast that Sin carved out the cove with. He finds his gun yards away from himself. His blade is missing. Most of the bullets in his pouches are damaged. He uses a White Wind on himself to make the burns bearable and stop his side from bleeding. The flash of the magic hurts his eyes.

       Takumi’s ears are ringing. Clenching his gun close to himself- he gazes around.

       They’re dead. So many are dead. He can’t even spot a living person for the time being. Off in the distance he sees an injured chocobo nearby a group of limp soldiers. It’s low warbles bounce off the rocks in mourning. Takumi’s vision is blurred at the edges and there’s blood dripping down from his forehead.

       Ayame lies in a pool of her own blood nearby, half buried under a boulder from the cliff above. Her arm is still outstretched towards Takumi.

       Takumi holds his head low in respect for a moment then continues his search.

       It’s not too long before he finds who he’s looking for. Ikoma’s on his back near the wall of the cove. There are wounds all along his body- some burned at the edges and tinged black. Is that what Sin’s toxin does? Ikoma’s armor is in pieces. His headgear is missing and his sword is nowhere in sight either. His eyes are turned towards the sky. There’s black at the edges of them.

“Ikoma!” Takumi exclaims. He hears more shouting in the distance but doesn’t pay attention to the words. Takumi fires a White Wind bullet over Ikoma, but the wounds don’t take to it. He tries another but there’s still no reaction. Takumi kneels down and holds his hand at Ikoma’s nostrils.

       He’s not breathing. No pulse when Takumi checks.

“It’s okay- we’ll be okay. That’s why we spent years saving up for this, right? Just in case. Just-”

       Takumi pulls out the vial that holds their only phoenix down. A precious commodity from the bird of rebirth itself. Often too pricey for anyone to afford more than one in their lifetime. He uncorks it and lets it slide out onto Ikoma’s chest. It sits there and nothing happens. There’s supposed to be a glowing from the feather- he’d seen them be used before.

       But- there are only pyreflies drifting and glowing around them. Way too close to Ikoma for comfort.

       That could only mean-

       Takumi wraps his arms around Ikoma and pulls him up, cradling his baby brother. The phoenix down drifts off of Ikoma and onto the sand.

“No- please don’t leave.” Takumi cries as he holds his brother’s body close to himself. No spells fix Ikoma’s wounds. Nothing’s working. He’s not waking up at the touch of the only phoenix down the two of them could ever afford. Maester Kinoc, Maester Seymour, Summoner Yuna, and her team were high on the cliff face, out of what was ground zero. As safe from the massacre as possible. Why did they get to sit pretty while-

       While those considered “expendable” and were excommunicated by the stupid church of Yevon are down here. The Crusaders, the knights, the support, the Al Bhed, the true fighters. People who’ve come together in an attempt to save everyone. For the sake of what was still good in the world.

       And everyone else still wonders why the “disgusting” Al Bhed hate the church.

       It’s not fair for those on the front lines to be cast aside. For people like him who put so much faith into strategies and spent a lifetime fighting to be where they end up. He’d fought hard to raise his brother in a world that abandoned him and told him to give up because of who he was. He’d spent countless months saving whatever he could and skipping feeding himself to buy Ikoma a young chocobo as a tenth birthday gift. They spent years training and covering up their Al Bhed appearance to make it into the Crusaders and Chocobo Knights without the blatant racism that runs through their society holding them back.

“Maybe- maybe Summoner Yuna. Maybe she-“ Takumi clips his gun to his belt opposite of his empty sword sheath. He gathers Ikoma’s broken body in his arms and stands up. Turning towards the cove exit, he walks.

       It’s only a few feet before Takumi’s side seizes up in pain and he falls to his knees.

“I can’t make it. I tried. We tried-“ Takumi mutters. His tears fall onto Ikoma’s body and rage seizes him as he shouts “You selfish asshole! How could you go- and leave your family behind. You said we were a team.”

       Takumi loses track of how long he’s kneeling on the sand with Ikoma in his arms. He screams Ikoma’s name to the sky like it could convince his brother to come back. He cries and screams until his tears won’t fall anymore.

       Ikoma would have turned eighteen in a few weeks. Just a few-

       Takumi hears rescue teams rushing in to find and aid those injured. There’s shouting and the trill of the only chocobo left standing on the beach.

       There’s raspy breathing coming from in front of Takumi. Someone sits down on the sands covered in blood. Takumi looks up, wide-eyed. His shoulders are shaking and his cheeks are already sticky from his tears drying.

       It’s Sukari. His armor’s cracked in multiple places and he’s bleeding from cuts all over. His right arm’s in a makeshift sling from his own clothing.

       Sukari doesn’t react to seeing Takumi’s swirled pupils aside from his own dilating. He doesn’t say anything at all. He stays though, and that’s what matters to Takumi.

“They’re all- everyone. Dead. I failed. I couldn’t protect anyone.” Takumi chokes.

“You didn’t fail.” Sukari argues. He points up towards the cliff where the Church of Yevon had overseen the Operation “They did.”

“Where are the others?”

“No sign of Mumei. I- I found Kurusu under Hozen. It looked like he’d been retreating when he got caught in the blast.” Sukari’s voice wavers.

“I should have kept firing even after I missed Ikoma for his second round. Maybe if I’d fired fast enough- I had one set of bullets left.” Takumi’s voice breaks.

“It’s got to be Sin’s toxin that made this go so wrong. Even my injuries hurt more than normal. Does your vision feel blurry, too?” Sukari looks off to the water.

“Yeah.”

       The rescue team arrives where Sukari and Takumi are. Takumi refuses treatment until Sukari’s treated. He keeps his eyes shut and his face turned down to the ground. He lies Ikoma on the ground and keeps his hands grasped over Ikoma’s- wishing that he’d feel Ikoma’s fingers move.

       When the medics get to Takumi he refuses to open his eyes while they check his face. They no doubt belong to the Church from their clothing. The medics get snappy at Takumi’s refusal and Sukari defends Takumi’s decision.

“He says he can see fine so just check his injuries! He just lost his brother. Go easy on him.” Sukari gets between the medics and Takumi for a moment.

       Giving up the argument, the medics check Takumi’s wounds and make sure he can make it to the first aid tent up the road at the Temple by himself. They continue onward to the next survivors.

“I think I overheard the rescue team say that Summoner Yuna was at the other end of the beach.” Sukari mentions when the medics are out of earshot.

“Good. Come with me.” Takumi mutters.

       Takumi can’t leave Ikoma’s body behind. He doesn’t trust anyone else to carry the burden. No doubt Summoner Yuna would be preparing to perform the sending so those who died can go to the farplane. It’s like he feels the weight of the pyreflies at his back as he makes his way down the beach. He won’t deny that he swears he sees the trailing glow of them following behind. Sukari stays beside him.

       Sure enough, those who were found dead and can be carried are being gathered. Laid out in a cleared area. Off to the side, Summoner Yuna and her guardians are standing.

       Takumi keeps his gaze on the group as he picks a spot to lie Ikoma down at.

       Summoner Yuna looks over and her gaze makes contact with Takumi’s.

       She looks sad. Hurt.

       Maybe even as broken as Takumi feels right now.

       Then the pain vanishes and she replaces it with a kind smile. She returns her attention to her team.

       Takumi sets Ikoma down. He retreats to the edge of the cleared area and sits down. His muscles ache. Sukari sits beside him. There are other survivors around. They’re all either silent or crying their eyes out.

 “You never told us you were Al Bhed.” Sukari comments.

“It wouldn’t have mattered.” Takumi scowls.

“It matters to me.”

“Yeah? So what if I’m full Al Bhed? You can fuck right off!” Takumi doesn’t need this right now. Not- not now.

“I didn’t mean it like that. It would have made me feel better to know. Even if you two dyed your hair- you’re still who you are. You two persisted when you can’t use magic. Where it’s harder to not use it.”

       Takumi doesn’t respond.

       Summoner Yuna steps forward. She raises her staff and begins the sending. The pyreflies float about her as those lost are guided to where they deserve to be. Their final resting place. The Farplane.

       Ikoma shouldn’t be going there. Do chocobos go to the farplane, too? Piercer- he shouldn’t be going there either but he deserves it. He was family.

       Takumi cries again. He curls in on himself and hugs his knees to his chest.

       The vigil’s an uncomfortable silence. It’s hard to breathe in an air that’s drowning in the remnants of what occurred such a short time ago. The sky’s too dark for it to still be daytime. It’s too light for it to be rain. Takumi thinks it might be the weight of those lost pressing against the sky. The anger of Sin lingering and infecting the air.

       When Summoner Yuna finishes the sending she and her team leaves. Her steps are stiff and she only smiles if one of her guardians looks at her.

       Takumi understands even more how unfair it is to place such a weight on a Summoner’s shoulders.

( _“E raynt drana’c y knuib uv Al Bhed dryd ryja paah dygehk Summoners fru yna uh draen bemknesyka du y cyvaruica. E fyc drehgehk uh zuehehk dras.” Ikoma mutters. They’re on site for Operation Mi’Ihen by themselves before everyone’s called to take position.  
_

_“Femm oui zueh dras ev drec tuach’d fung?”  
_

_“Oayr. Fa’na uidmyfc ymnayto. Ed tuach’d syga y tevvanahla yvdan drec.”_ )

       Takumi clenches his hands into fists.

“Sukari- I’m resigning from the Crusaders effective immediately.” Takumi says. He doesn’t look at Sukari.

“I don’t blame you. This was a disaster. I doubt there will even be Crusaders after this.” Sukari’s sigh is uneven “Where are you going to go now?”

“I’m going where Ikoma wanted to go. There’s- nothing left for me here. The best I can do is keep moving.” Takumi pushes against the sand for support as he stands up. He staggers. Takumi stops to regain his balance then heads in the direction of Djose temple. He needs to go that way to continue north.

“Wait- let me go with you.” Sukari calls after him.

       Takumi looks back. Sukari’s already on his feet and following.

“I’m not about to let you go off on your own anyway.” Sukari adds when he catches up. His breathing is still raspy and he has a slight limp.

       Takumi turns his gaze ahead. They walk the winding trail to Djose Temple without speaking again. Not too far from the temple Captain Lucil and her companions are standing with a chocobo. There are patches of feathers missing showing pink skin underneath. It’s the same one that had been on the beach in the aftermath.

       Takumi’s gripped with anger. He’d never seen Lucil’s team break off to retreat. He’s never met her or the other two in person- but he damn well knows who they are.

       Before Sukari’s fingers of his good hand can wrap around Takumi’s arm tight enough Takumi storms forward.

“Captain Lucil! Why didn’t you call a full retreat?” Takumi shouts. The chocobo jumps in place at the noise but doesn’t make a move to run.

       Captain Lucil turns from the two she’s with to look Takumi over. Her gaze stops at Takumi’s eyes. He’s not sure for what reason yet. He gives her the benefit of the doubt.

“I had tried but by the time we realized the gravity of the attack it was too late. I regret not calling it sooner. Who are you?” She questions. Her eyes are bloodshot.

“Former Lieutenant Takumi of the Crusaders. My brother was a sergeant in your squad.”

“Not to sound insensitive- but we didn’t have any in the Chocobo Knights who were Al Bhed.”

       Ah, that’s what it was. That’s always what it is.

“Ikoma was.” Takumi’s blunt. He brushes past the remnants of the Chocobo Knights and continues towards the temple. Captain Lucil makes no move to stop him or continue the conversation.

       Sukari keeps beside Takumi. His heavy exhale is enough for Takumi to know that Sukari’s mad at him. Takumi’s mad too. At himself. At Sin. Just mad in general because being mad right now and picking himself up to keep moving is a lot easier than letting himself stay sad. He’ll find time to heal later.

       Being sad isn’t going to bring Ikoma or Piercer back. Or Mumei or Ayame or Kurusu or anyone else that he could have saved if he'd been strong enough.

       Not even the Phoenix could help with that one.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!  
> If you liked it please feel free to leave a kudos or comment~
> 
> Al Bhed Dialogue translations:  
> 1\. “We’ll head home with victory over Sin! Together, you got that? We’re a team. Then, when everything clears- we’ll let the higher ranks of both the Crusaders and the Chocobo Knights piss their pants when they learn two of their higher members have been Al Bhed all along.”  
> 2\. “I heard there’s a group of Al Bhed that have been taking Summoners who are on their pilgrimage to a safehouse. I was thinking on joining them.”  
> “Will you join them if this doesn’t work?”  
> “Yeah. We’re outlaws already. It doesn’t make a difference after this.”


End file.
